A new survey from Pew Research reveals how most Americans have been coping with the pandemic and lockdowns, and it isn’t through faith in God or spiritual practice. In fact, more than any other religious or non-religious population surveyed, 90% of Christians report watching the most TV and movies at home to decompress from COVID-19-related stress. Whereas merely 55% of participants reported praying weekly and only 29% said Scripture reading was part of their weekly routine.
Why does it matter if we watch more TV anyway? Studies show that increased consumption of TV correlates to declining IQ, and the content we consume via entertainment, especially during the developmental years, can directly influence our future actions for better or worse, including increased lewd and violent behavior.
But Christians are called to a higher standard than this: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (Phillippians 4:8-9, NIV).
As Hollywood and media have continued to push the boundaries of appropriate entertainment, many Christians have given in along the way, becoming desensitized to TV and movie material that would not have been widely accepted by the Church, 30, 20 or even 10 years ago. As so aptly proven in the recent Pew Research survey, the result is a generation of Christians more intent on consuming whatever is immediately entertaining, even if it is not necessarily true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and excellent.
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Reuben Evans
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